


Blood and Pain

by Carerra_os



Series: Harringrove Tumblr Stories [12]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Blood and Injury, Canon-Typical Violence, M/M, Short One Shot
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-26
Updated: 2020-04-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 17:27:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,583
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23850790
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Carerra_os/pseuds/Carerra_os
Summary: Billy and Steve are soulmates, they don't find that out till they fight.-It kind of feels like being punched in the gut, seeing Nancy’s neat scrawl on the inside of Jonathan's arm, the exact same scrawl Steve saw on her bare arm just a few moments ago. Jonathan and Nancy both look guilty, at least, but it does not make it any easier. Steve thought she was safe, thought she was like him, that she did not have a soulmate, and it hurts, finding out different. Steve has always been good at ignoring though, at pushing down his own feelings and putting on a good face for others, and now is no different.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove/Steve Harrington
Series: Harringrove Tumblr Stories [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1673560
Comments: 18
Kudos: 297





	Blood and Pain

**Blood and Pain**

There are many different ways to identify one's soulmate. A lot of them run in family lines. Steve's parents and grandparents and so forth all have their soulmates name on the inside of their wrists. So when Steve is born unmarked they assume the worst, that he has no soul mate. Steve's grandmother is not so ready to jump to conclusions though, insistent that he simply does not toe the family line, that eventually his will be revealed to be something delightfully different.

After his grandmother passes there is no one to remind him that he likely just has a different indicator of his soulmate. It does not take a lot for Steve to start believing the things the rest of his family say, how he just does not have a soulmate, they keep reminding him, bringing it up any time they see him. So Steve takes to covering up and pretending to the rest of the world that he is just being cautious, he does not want anyone else to see him the way his family does. Not good enough, beneath them, less than all because he does not have someone out there waiting for him.

Then Steve meets Nancy who does not have a mark either, whose family trait is being able to write on their skin and have it show up on their soulmate. Nancy had drawn on her hands endlessly in her youth hoping for a response but she never got one. So Steve thinks she is safe, thinks she is like him without a soulmate and so they get close, and Steve learns to love her even if it still does not quite feel right.

It is easy at least for a little while to not focus on the parts of being with Nancy that do not feel right with finding out about the upside down. Things start to fall apart though, Nancy pulls away from him and Billy Hargrove comes to town and will not leave Steve alone. Steve does not know how to deal with all of this, and just tries to pretend he is a normal teenager again.

-

Billy's mother and father are not soulmates, his mother lost her soulmate when she was just a child. She fell and cracked her skull open on the playground and her soulmate took her injury onto himself. The same soulmate identification her grandparents had, unfortunately the injury was too severe and he did not make it to the hospital. Billy is wise enough to never ask about the grayed out names on Neil Hargrove’s wrists. 

Billy has no marks, and he is glad he does not have names like his father or even just one name, as he gets older and his eyes keep straying to other boys. He knows any name on his skin would be a death sentence. It is lonely though, not knowing for sure that there is someone out there, someone just for him. His mom tells him about her own soulmate and other soulmate identifications that are not there from birth like names and marks are. He can see all of the colors his mother can, and nothing has ever shown up scrawled on his skin that he did not put there himself. Billy cycles through a few other possibilities that are testable without having your soulmate right there, and is helplessly disappointed. 

Billy stops worrying about if he has a soulmate or not when his mother leaves him, he is too busy trying not to anger his father. He does not start thinking about soulmates again till he gets to Hawkins, and cannot keep his attention off of Steve Harrington. Now Billy cannot get the what ifs out of his mind, because he knows from Tommy and the locker room that Steve’s body is blank and there has been no indication that he has found his soulmate. 

Billy does not mean to obsess but he can’t help himself. Has to be the focus of Steve’s attention, gets angry when he is not. He is being nice, his version of nice, Billy would even consider them friends. 

-

Jonathan spent his youth with pictures scrawled across his skin, and Lonnie had hated it and took out his own lack of a soulmate on him. So Jonathan never really wrote on his skin, occasionally he would leave a dot on his hip, or inner thigh, some place unnoticeable and then be sick with nerves over it. As the childish doodles on his own arms stopped coming, Jonathan pushed them from his mind practically forgetting about them.

Till he is with Nancy and she scrawls on her arm, unable to find paper, and it shows up on his arm too. They both kind of forget that she is technically dating Steve, too wrapped up in each other as they work to reveal Barb's death to the world. 

-

It kind of feels like being punched in the gut, seeing Nancy’s neat scrawl on the inside of Jonathan's arm, the exact same scrawl Steve saw on her bare arm just a few moments ago. Jonathan and Nancy both look guilty, at least, but it does not make it any easier. Steve thought she was safe, thought she was like him, that she did not have a soulmate, and it hurts, finding out different. Steve has always been good at ignoring though, at pushing down his own feelings and putting on a good face for others, and now is no different. 

-

Billy does not know what to make of it, of finding Steve standing between him and his step sister. It feels like they are on the precipice of something, something Billy has been looking forward to, has wanted to get Steve alone for a while now, since he first saw him. But then Steve lies about Max, who is very clearly in the window looking out and everything shifts. Billy thought they were friends, but here Steve is lying to him and standing in his way. 

Anger wells up and Billy throws a fist, and marches into the house. Things escalate when Steve pulls him away from Lucas and throws a punch of his own. Things get out of hand quickly, Billy knows he has done more than enough damage to make his point, more than he intended to. All of the anger at his father and not having someone to call his own, not having Steve just bubbles over in unprecedented anger and aggression. 

Billy does not even stop when he cracks a plate across Harrington’s head, even as it registers that he should stop, that this is all going way too far. It is like a dam has broken and Billy just is not in control of his own movements, cannot get himself back under control not till Max intervenes. Billy feels the prick at his neck, and it stops him even as the drugs she has pricked him with have not taken effect yet. It startles him out of his destructive state, and leaves him staring down at Steve’s battered face.

Billy feels regret take hold, something he seldom allows, something he cannot afford growing up under Neil’s thumb. “Shit.” Billy curses wobbling, as he hovers over Steve, bloodied and near unconscious under him. He hears Max make a threat of some sort but Billy is not paying her any mind, all of his focus on Steve. 

Billy shakes adrenaline leaving him feeling hollowed out as he looks down at the damage he caused to Steve’s pretty face. Tears prick his eyes, the regret rolling in his stomach making him feel like he might be sick. Billy is gentle as he touches Steve’s face right under the cut he caused with a dinner plate, and wishes he could take it all back. Billy nearly topples as new pain flows through him, head going wobbly as he teeters to the side. 

Through blurry eyes Billy sees the damage he caused Steve disappearing, confused with his foggy brain he barely registers one of the kids exclaiming. “Omg are they soulmates?” Billy grins with bloody teeth because he finally found his someone. That is his last thought before he passes out. 

Those are the words Steve comes fully back to reality too, surprised when he is not in a world of pain. Steve turns his head to the side and sees Billy’s grinning bloody face, as his eyes fall closed. “Shut up Mike.” Steve registers Max hissing, his focus is on Billy, because he knows he did not cause all of that damage. It takes a long minute, and a look at his own pristine knuckles to realize he definitely did not cause all of that, that Billy, Billy took his injuries onto himself. 

“Holy shit.” Steve whispers hand rising to touch Billy’s slack face till Max grabs his arm.

“Maybe you shouldn’t do that.” Steve is confused, till it registers why she does not want him to touch Billy. She is worried that Steve will take it all back, and Steve cannot help himself when he reaches out to try. He needs to be sure, needs to know for sure, it does not prepare him for the pain coming back, not just his but Billy’s too all at once. There are hisses form the kids about how stupid he is but Steve cannot focus on who is saying what as he passes out, the pain is worth the knowledge that he is not alone. 

**Author's Note:**

> https://ghostofjellyfishforgotten.tumblr.com/


End file.
